The device in question is designed to eliminate some typical steps relating to the manufacture and assembly of what are known as rules in general (slide rules and indicators) which can also be combined with boxes to contain, for example, medicines. The term xe2x80x9crulesxe2x80x9d is taken to signify all those devices (widely used in the fields of mechanical engineering and pharmacology, and in scientific and promotional subjects) which, when a cursor is slid within a suitable envelope case, indicate data or carry out true mathematical calculations by the juxtaposition of prepared logarithmic or decimal scales. The rule, as described above, is commonly made from paper or plastic material or similar, since these materials are most suitable for the construction of this device, given that the envelope case is simply a flat surface printed and folded on to itself at two or three points and fixed in this position either by a spot of adhesive or by a suitable insertion joint; at its upper and lower ends, this folded surface has an aperture which can receive what is known as the cursor and allow it to slide.
By sliding the cursor within the case and with the aid of suitable apertures (stamped out of the case if cardboard is used or transparent if plastic material is used) it is possible to indicate data or to perform easily calculations which would otherwise be more difficult to obtain (by devising formulae, using calculators, etc.).
One of the principal problems encountered in manufacture, whether on a small business footing or on an industrial scale where the effects are greater, is that of the insertion of the cursor into the envelope case, which in most cases has to be carried out manually. This is because this type of product is commonly manufactured in small batches without continuity in time, commonly for promotional purposes, for which it is economically unsound to construct suitable machinery capable of carrying out the casing operation, with the further consideration that the rules commonly vary rather widely from each other in terms of dimensions and content. In order to overcome this problem, which increases the time and consequently also the costs of production, the device illustrated below has been conceived.
The device is designed to achieve the simplified assembly of rules or boxes including rules, made from paper or other similar materials, and simultaneously of the structures containing them, by means of a distinctive development in the plane of the model to be produced and the consequent appropriate preparatory stamping which, when paper or other similar material is used, enables a cursor slidable within a case to be produced without the necessity of assembling the cursor manually within the case. This is made possible because the mechanical assembly is carried out on the same printed sheet after a simple stamping operation, using commonly and easily used machines employed in the paper and cardboard industry (gluing and folding machines).
The customary device may be used to provide the preparation of a box or casing wherein one or more rules form one or more walls of the box.
One object of the invention is to provide, at the same time as and in addition to an easy operation of assembling the blank, an easy cursor function, preventing the exit of the cursor from the case forming the sliding housing during the cursor sliding operations, and in particular on the occasion of the first of these operations.
Another object of the invention is to make the sliding of the cursor in its housing very smooth and free of obstacles and impediments. These and other objects and advantages will be made clear by the following text.
The invention therefore relates to a device forming a slide rule and indicatorxe2x80x94which can also be combined with boxes containing medicines and other itemsxe2x80x94which can be made from paper or cardboard, which comprises a structure having three thicknesses or panes, of which the two outer ones form a case and the intermediate one forms a cursor designed to slide in the case; the cursor is formed by cuts parallel to the direction of sliding of the cursor and by weak links designed to be broken by action on the cursor to cause the initial sliding. According to the invention, cuts parallel to the direction of sliding of the cursor form at least one elongate slot running alongside the cursor and terminating in one stop formed by the cursor and in one stop formed by the material of the intermediate thickness from which the cursor is also made; the said two stops interact to limit the sliding of the cursor with respect to the case to the distance represented by the length of the slot.
The said two stops can be inclined with respect to the direction of sliding of the cursor and with respect to the perpendicular to the said direction of sliding, to obtain an angle of less than 90xc2x0 between the edges sliding with respect to each other. This facilitates the uniform sliding of the cursor.
It is also possible to provide slots running alongside the cursor on the two opposite sides.
It is possible to provide two slots running along one or each of the sides of the cursor, two outer stops formed by the sliding case and a double stop movable with the cursor in the interspace delimited by the two outer stops; in this way the cursor can be moved in the two opposite directions with respect to the retention position.
A slot may be made by forming a discard to be removed from the paper material from which the cursor is formed, or by a perimetric of the blank in which the cursor is formed along the perimeter of the blank.
The cursor may be integral with a closing tab of a box, this tab thus forming a convenient grip for sliding the cursor.
The weak links designed to be broken on the occasion of the initial sliding of the cursor may be formed along lines inclined with respect to the direction of sliding of the cursor, thus preventing irregular edges from sliding along each other; this facilitates the uniform sliding of the cursor.
In an embodiment in the form of a prismatic box, it is also possible to provide two or more cursors on adjacent or non-adjacent faces.
The various features of novelty which characterize the invention are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure. For a better understanding of the invention, its operating advantages and specific objects attained by its uses, reference is made to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter in which preferred embodiments of the invention are illustrated.